Heat control



P 1941- G. PERVELIS 2,257,617

HEAT CONTROL Filed Nqv. 9, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet l urcr. CABLE 5.0m:

' INVENTOR "1155555 Gregory Pervelis c ""-7 BY W V M mgw Sept. 30, 1941. s. PERVELIS HEAT CONTROL Filed Nov. 9, 1939 '4 Sheets-Sheet 2 ,4 IINVENTOR Gregory Pervelis v v ArroRNEus WITNESS ES Sept. 30, 1941. G. PERVELIS 2,257,617 HEAT CONTROL Filed Nov. 9, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet} INVENTOR Gregory Feruelz's v ATTORNEYS Sept. 30, 1941. e. PERVELIS HEAT CONTROL File'd Nov. 9, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR' Gregory PerveZLs WITNESSES Patented Sept. 30, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HEAT CONTROL Gregory Pervelis, New York, N. Y. Application November 9, 1939, Serial No. 303,585

7 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved control for steam heating system wherein the parts automatically function to maintain a desired. temof steam in proportion to the combined action of thermostats and a clock mechanism.

Another object of the invention is to provide a heat control wherein a pair of outside thermostats and a return water thermostat are used for varying the time in which steam is allowed to enter the heating system, the same cooperating with time control members.

An additional and more specific object is to provide a heat control for steam heating systems for buildings wherein there is provided a valve controlling the entrance of steam into the building and means for fully opening the valve from time to time controlled by the combined action of a clock mechanism and the action of one or a plurality of outside thermostats and a single inside thermostat, whereby the valve may be left open longeror shorter times with the steam fully on according to the heating needs of the build-- n a In the accompanying drawings- Fig. l is a diagram showing part of a building and heating system and control therefor, disclosing an embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the control system illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary sectional view showing how the brushes of Fig. 8 engage the cona pipe for supplying steam under desired pres-.

sure. A hand controlled valve 2 is preferably provided in this pipe so as to permanently turn on or off the steam as may be desired. An automatically actuated valve 3 isalso provided in the pipe I between the valve 2 and the upright Fig. 3 is a sectional view through the motor housing illustrated in Fig. 1 and disclosing most of the parts in elevation;

Fig. 4 is a sectional-view through Fig. 3 ap- 4 which supplies the various radiators with steam. It will be understood that there may be one or many uprights 4, all for receiving steam through the pipe i. Y

Then valve 2 is fully open, which is its'normal position, the full head of steam is against valve 3. When the automatic control mechanism hereinafter fully described functions, valve 3 will be fully open so that the full pressure of steam will be on the uprights 4, whereby steam will be quickly forced to the most remote point in the building being heated. This pressure of steam will remain on as long as valve 3 is open. When the automatic control hereinafter described functions to close valve 3, it will completely close the valve so that no steam can pass. For instance, if the valve is open ten minutes the full head of steam is on all the supply pipes of thebuilding and then the full head of steam is nism shown in Fig. 5 butlooking at the same from the oppositedirection; A I

, Fig. 8 is an elevation of a pair of clock actu- 'ated brushes and associated parts embodying certain features of the invention;

Fig. 9 is an elevation of one of the switch members shown in Figs. 5 and 'l;

Fig. 1041s a hand controlled disk and arm for Fig. 12-is a sectional view through Fig. 11 approximately on the line "-12;

turned on. There is no reduction in pressure of vided suitable return pipes 6 which discharge into a return container I. The water from this container may be directed to the sewer or, if

. desired, may be recovered and used again.

' To control the valve I, there is provided a 7 control system which is indicated in Fig. l as system I. This system is provided with outside thermostats I and II and an inside thermostat II which extends into the return water in the container 1. A motor hereinafterfully described is positioned in the housing I! and also a clock It is positioned therein. In addition, certain switches and other parts are positioned in the housing whereby current may be turned on and .noid I4.

01! to the winding of the solenoid it. The

solenoid M is connected with the reciprocating valve member 3' so that when the solenoid is energized this valve member will be raised and the valve 3 fully opened. When the solenoid I4 is deenergized the weight ot the core of the solenoid quickly and automatically closes the valve member 3'. If desired, a spring could be used to assist in closing the valve member. By reason of this construction, when the tempera ture near thermostat rises current will be supplied to the motor in housing '02, which will cause the valve 3 to close unless it is already closed. Also if the return water in the container 1 is too hot the thermostat ill will function to supply current to motor in housing 92 for opening the circuit of the solenoid Mi whereupon valve 3 will be shut oil. However, the functioning of the thermostat it may be varied by the action of thermostat it. If the water is slightly too hot and the temperature near thermostat near thermostat 9, the action of thermostat IE will counteract the action of thermostat ii and, consequently, the motor in housing I? will not function. In a certain sense, the mean action of the three thermostats controls the mechanism which supplies current to the windings of sole- The clock l3 functions in connection with the motor above mentioned to provide current for the solenoid II for .a certain number of minutes each half hour. The various circuits for the system 8 are shown in Fig. 2 and the -various structures associated with the motor are shown in Figs. 3 to inclusive.

Referring to Fig. -2, it will be seen that the thermostat 9 acts through an expansiblemember II for raising a pivotally mounted bar 18. This bar is pivotally mounted at I I and continually rests on a point member it connected with the expansible member IS. A retractile spring is is connected to a fixed support Hand to the end 2i of bar l6 so that said bar It will continually press against the pointed member 98 in a direc-. tion for contacting or collapsing the member iii. The member It, pipe it and thermostat are old and well known and form part of an ordi nary thermostatic structure now on the marlret. A member 22, preferably oi insulating material, is rigidly secured to the bar and carries a metal contact 233 which continually engages resistance 24. entire gaseous matter in timer mostat 9 expands, bar, it will be raised and the contact 23 will be swung over, for instance, to the position shown in Fig. 2. if the temperature should be lowered the gaseous matter in the thermostat would contract and spring it would the member or arm 22 would swing baclr. and

it is somewhat lower than Bit rent, and a contact 23 is connected to the op= poslte side of the source of current. By this construction, whenever the -,thermostat id varies the contact 23' will be swung one way or the other and will unbalance the solenoids 26 and it. This will cause the cores 32 and 33 to move on their pivotal mounting 36. These solenoids are connected by a bar 35 and, therefore, move in unison. A contact arm 36 extends from bar 35 and normally is arranged half way between These terminals are connected with the terminals of motor as, which is a standard reversible motor, operated at any desiredspeed, as for instance 800 revolutions per minute. When the contact arm 36 engages terminal 31, thearmature of motor 39 will rotate in one direction, and when the arm 38 is engaging terminal. the armature of motor 39 will rotate in the opposite direction. The shaft '66 is connected with the armature of motor 39' and on this shaft there is provided a train of material, is connected with the center of one of the train of gears, said arm having a metal contact 42 continually resting on the balancing resistance or potentiometer 28. By this construction whenever the circuit including solenoids and is unbalanced the motor 39- wlll rotate until the circuit is balanced. When that occurs solenoids 26 and 30 will move the arm 36 out of engagement with either the contacts Si or 38, whereupon the motor will stop.

It will be seen that the motor 39 is shown diagrammatically in Fig. 2 but is so proportioned swing bar it in the opposite direction and, con I sequently, contact zd'would be swung to the right as shown in the drawings. as the temperature increased and decreased near thermostat t,

forth in proportion to the variation in temperature.

The outside thermostat it and associated parts are constructed identically with thermostat .9 and associated parts and, therefore, will need no detail description as the same reference numerals may be used. However. the thermostatic is'con'nected in the circuit in a difierent way from the thermostat it. The resistance 2d of thermostat it are part of a closed circuit including a wire 26, solenoid 2%, wire 2i, balancing resistance 28, wire it, solenoid iii and wire 3| which leads back to the source of cur that the armature will rotate approximately eight hundred or more times while the contact 43 is moved one-half inch more or less. A shaft 44 is connected with the shaft and also rigidly connected to a. disk 45. The connection between the shaft and the disk 45 is eccentric so that as shaft 44 rotates there will be an eccentric motion by the disk or eccentric do for raising or releasing a lever 46 which is pivotally mounted at ti. A spring 48 is connected with the free end of lever 46 and is maintained under tension thereby. As the. eccentric 65 rotates through an arc of I89 degrees, the spring dd will be brought under tension or released of tension according to the direction of rotation of the eccentric. Spring 38 is also connected at '59 to a pivotally mounted bar 6%. This bar is pivoted at ti which is substantially central thereof.

The thermostat ii is made similar to thermostats 9 and it and, consequently, is provided with a pointed member 52 which is raised and lowered as the thermostat functions. The end of the pointed member 52 continually presses against bar as approximately half way between the pivot pin Si and the end 53. A ,U-shaped member 56 is rigidly secured to bar dd between pivot pin 5i and end 53. This bar may be made or .insulating or other material as well as bar and to each leg of thisbar there is provided a metallic member and each of these members is provided with a contact arm 56. These arms engage, respectively, resistances 5i and 58 and slide thereover to vary the resistance in the circult. Whenthe parts are as shown in Fig. 2, the contact arms 66 are central oithe resistance elements 5'! and 58. If the thermostat it functions alone the arm 58 would shift one away from the other' slmultaneously. Sometimes the action of'the thermostat l0 cancels the action of thermostat it so that" the result would be that the contact arms 58 would remain stationary. When these arms do move, however, the circuit is unbalanced and the solenoids BI and I will" become unbalanced. When this occurs the bar it will swing the arm 62 which is rigidly secured thereto so that this arm, which is of metal, may

" engage either contact '3 or 4. When this occurs the motor I! will be energized and will rotate either to the right or leftaccording to which with the plate I! and a lead-in wire I! is connectedwith the ring II. The brushes I! and,"

act merely to short-circuit or connect the switch element It with the switch'element or ring 83. The brushes l9 and are provided with contact ends 19' and 8| which engage the respective contact elements when in use. It will be observed way arm 42 has moved. The motor will naturally rotate the armature and to this armature is secured a shaft 6|. Shaft 44 rotates a small pinion 81 meshing with pinion 68 to which a shaft 84' is connected. Shaft 66 is connected to a pinion 49 for rotating the same. Pinion 89 is part of a train of gears 10, one of which is connected at H to arm 12. The gears 61 and 68 form a train for reducing the speed of the armathat the contact ll continually engages ring I! but the contact I9 engages the respectivecontact sections 84 and 8! for a short period of time and the remaining time contacts with part of the base 88. As the brushes ll and II make one complete circle in each hour, brush 91 will engage a portion-of the respective contact sections 44 and 8! each half hour. Wires 9! and 0, as shown particularly in Fig. 6, extend to the valve 3 and are connected to the windings of solenoid i3, whereby whenever brush I! is in contact with either of the sections '4 or 85, current will be supplied at 110 volts or at other standard voltage to the solenoid i4, whereupon it will quickly open and hold open valve I as long as brush 1! is env gaging either contact .4 or 85. Preferably the slowly than the gear wheel 13 so that the metal contact arm 14 may move over the balanced resistance or potentiometer I! rather slowly until the circuits for the solenoids I9 and 60 are balanced. The arm 12 may be of insulating material but the contact arm 14 must be of metal.

By reason of the construction just described, whenever any of the thermostats '9, i0 and II function the circuit of the solenoids 59 and 60 may be unbalanced and if unbalanced the motor 65 will rotate until the contact arm I4 moves sufllciently to again balance the circuit. During the movement of the arm 12 to balance the circuit, gear wheel 13 will rotate and will rotate the second gear wheel 18 which is continually in mesh therewith and which-is preferably of the same diameter.

each half hour.

current to the'remaining part of the circuit is supplied at a much less voltage. as for instance 24 volts, by reason of the transformer 99.

When the device is first installed, the parts may be arranged as shown in Fig. 5, which will cause the indicating pointer Hi0 (Fig. 10) to point at the legend 10". This will indicate that a sufficient part of the respective sections I4 and 85 are exposed, as shown in Fig. 5, to permit the brush 1! to contact therewith for ten minutes This will cause the valve 3 vto remain fully open ten minutes for each half hour.

If the circuit shown in Fig. 2 should be unbalanced as heretofore described by a lowering .of the temperature exterior of the building or a lowering of the return water to the thermostat Ii, motor 65 would function to rotate the In Figs. 3 to 9, inclusive, will be seen details of the gear wheels 16 and associated parts. Referring particularly to these figures, it will be observed that the gear wheel. 16 carries a switch which coacts with a clock 11. standard clock and the shaft 18 is rigidly connected with the minute-hand shaft of the clock so that it will rotate once each hour. A pair of gear wheel 13 and also gear wheel 16. This ro tation would be in a direction indicated by the arrow IM (Fig. 5). This will move the pointer Hill in Fig. 10 toward the legend 15 and will expose more of the contact sections 84 and '5, whereby the brush 18 will engage these sections for a longer time each half hour. For instance,

if the movement has been sufficient to swing the brushes l9 and 80 are connected together at Bl and also rigidly connected to the arm 82 which is rigidly secured to shaft 18. By reason .of this construction, the brushes 1! and 80 complete one rotation every hourI 'These brushes coact with a metallic'ring 83 and with contact sections 84 and 85 of a switch element 88. The switch element 88 'is formed of a sheet of metal having a central ring 81 offset at 80' and 89 with the offset portions merging respectively into the contact sections 84 and 85. A block of insulation 90 is riveted, cemented or otherwise rigidly secured to plate 81 and by reason of the set screw ll, shown in Fig. 6, is rigidly secured to a sleeve 92. Sleeve 92 is rotatably'mounted on a shaft 93, which shaft has a block 94 rigidly secured thereto by a set screw 98. .Block 94 is riveted, cemented or otherwise rigidly secured to a switch piece or disk 96 of insulating material. The metal contact ring 83 is riveted, cemented or otherwise rigidly secured to a base 98 so as to continually move therewith. This base is cemented, riveted, or otherwise rigidly secured to the gear wheel". A lead-in wire 91 is connected pointer I00 to a position opposite legend 15, it will mean that the contact of brush with the contact sections 14 and 15 will be for a fifteen- ,minute period each half hour and, consequently,

for each half hour valve 3 will be fully opened for fifteen minutes. If thisshould produce too much heat in a building, the return water would cause the thermostat ii to function and upset the balance of the circuit sothat motor 65. would rotate in the opposite direction and the gear wheel 16 would rotate in the opposite direction,

whereby some of the exposed portions of the sections 84 and ll would be withdrawn so that the contact with the brush 1! would be of less I duration each half hour. The maximum rotary movement of the wheels I3 and 16 is through an arc of 180 degrees.

If sufllcient steam is not provided through the structure just described, anyone may grasp the disk Hi2 shown in Figs. 3 and 10 and rotate the same in a direction to expose more of the contact sections and 85, whereupon the valve 3 would remain open for a greater length of time during each half hour period.

By'reversing the rotation of the disk I02, a reverse actioncan be secured. The disk I0! is rigidly secured to the sleeve $32 which. as shown in Fig. 6, is rigidly secured to the switch mem-' manually changed, whereas if the base 96 for exposing more or less of the contact. sections as and s is automatically moved by the action of the thermostats the temperature'changes may cause a reverse or return movement of base 93.

The sleeve or tubular shaft 92 extends through a bearing Hi3 which is clamped in position by clamping screws ltd. These screws are tightened sufficiently to provide a desired friction on the sleeve 92 so that it will not rotate unless some appreciable torque is brought to bear '23 and wire. lid back to the supply wire Ht.

Current flowing in this circuit will cause the arm as to swing and thereby close the circuit I of the motor at. This motor is supplied with current from the supply wires lid and no,

which may be connected with the supply "wires H6 and H5, or any other suitable source of current. As motor .39 functions it will swing the arm as downwardly, as shown in Fig. 2, until the clrcuit is again balanced. Atthe same time, it will partly rotate the eccentric ill and will bring the spring so under greater tension.- If the return water remains atthc same tern 'perature, thermostat it will remain stationary but as the spring id has been brought under greater tension the bar M will be swungior swinging the arms lit to the right and thereby V unbalance the circuit of which these arms are thereon, whereby shaft t3 may freely rotate without the friction against sleeve 92 in any way molesting. the position of sleeve 92.

It will be observed that the base at is provided with slits or openings ills (Fig. and its through which the respective sections at and 95 move. The base 9E5 may be rubber, Bakelite, or other insulating material, and is cut away in arc-shaped lines lll'i and W8 and along lines-lat and lit, whereb resilient tongues ill and H2 are provided so as to yield sumciently'to allow a with an indicating arrow H3 and the words Increase and Decrease lid and H6, whereby the superintendent of the building or other operator may readily understand which way the switching on current from a suitable source,

parts are to be turned for manually setting the parts for increasing the temperature in the building or decreasing the same.

When the parts are first installed, the pointer we is manually positioned, as well as the re-' maining parts, and the disk 32 is positioned with the zero mark opposite pointer i it. The automatic action of certain parts is adapted to swing the pointer llll one way or the other, but the automatically acting parts will not move the dish I02 which is moved only by the hand of an operator. It will be readily understood, or course, thatii' desired the pointer lfiil and associated parts could be set at a new position by hand at any time, though ordinarily it is left in its original setting and the desired results are secured by manually rotating disk 502 which rotates the switch element 86 shown in Fig. 9.

If the control arrangement were functioning and the parts were arranged as shown in Fig. 2 and the temperature exterior of the building should lower either slowly or suddenly, the thermostats 9 and ill would beaiiected but the thermostat it probably would not be afiected to any appreciable extent. When the thermostats 9 and i0 are affected by a lowering inv temperature, the respective pointed members 58 will move downwardly by reason of the action of wire ill, solenoid 25,, wire 25, resistance tit, arm

- a, id and El and associated parts.

in. Fig. 16, the thermostat 685 is the same as' a part. At the same time these things occur, arm 23 has moved to the right so that the circuit which includes the resistance 2d and the resistances ii! and 58 is unbalanced, and current will flow'through the solenoids 5t and to for namely, from wires lit and lit, whereby motor 65 will rotate and "move the various parts here tofore described for swinging the. arm E2 to the rightsumciently to again balance the circuit. While this arm is swinging, gear wheels l3 and it will function'and certain other parts as above described. 1

During the unbalanced period of the circuit, including solenoids b9 and 5t, current will pass from the supply wire lit through wire Hi to contact arm 23, and will split at this point, some current passing through the wire $22 and the remaining part passing through wire 23. I If the arm 23 is positioned as shown in Fig. 2, some of the current will pass, through wire 523, then through wire 922, by means of the extra resistance inserted in wire ltZ by reason of the position of arm 23. Current passing through wire (22 will pass through the resistance EiL'arm 65, wire Hid, solenoid fill, wire I25, part of the resistance or potentiometer l6, arm id and wire 28 back to the source lid. The current passing from arm 23, through wire IE3, will. pass through the resistance 5?, contact blade 56, wire i2l, solenoid 59. wire E28, part of the resistance l5, contact arm it and wire lid, back to wire lit. As more current will pass through one of these circuits, then the other one of the solenoids, as for instance solenoid 53, will receive more current than solenoid 5d and, consequently, bar ti will be tilted for causing arm 62 to engage contact point 83, whereby motor will rotate in one direction. If more current should pass through wire I22 and parts connected therewith, arm 52 would swing against contacts M and cause motor 55 to rotate in a reverse direction. The current for motortb is conducted by wire E29 from wirev ill to arm 62 and then. through the motor and from the motor through wire ltd back to wire H6.

In Figs. 16 and 17 a slightly modified structure is provided to take the place of the thermostats As indicated end of control potentiometer or resistance ISL.

An arm. I38 coacts with theresistance I31 and is actuated by a rod its moved by'and outside theracumen mostat Ill. When the temperature risesor falls, the thermostat I 40 willfunction to unbalance the circuit by shifting arm I38, so that the parts heretofore described will function. However, if

the temperature outside of the building remains stationary and there is a change in the temperature of the return water, thermostate l3! will function to swing the arms I33 and I34, for instance to the position shown in Fig. 17. This will unbalance the circuit without any action'of the thermostat I". It will be understood that the wires I25 and I2! are the same as in Fig. 2 and the remaining parts are the same as in said figure, the only difference being in the parts above the solenoids 59 and 60. Y

I claim:

'1. A heat control for a steam heating system for a building including an automatically closing valve for turning of! steam to said system, a solenoid for opening and maintaining open said valve, a switch for turning on current to said solenoid,

engagement with the spaced contacts, electrically actuated power structure for moving said spaced contacts in respect to said-brush structure for varying the time period that said brush structure engages said spaced contacts, a circuit for said power structure including a reversing switch, and means for opening and closing said switch; and a thermostat for causing said means to function to close the reversing switch in one direction when the temperature near said thermostat rises v and close in the opposite direction when the temperature lowers whereby said brush structure is caused to engage said spaced contacts for a greater or less time period as the temperature near the-thermostat rises or falls.

4. A heat control as specified in claim 3 characterized by the use of a second thermostat actuated by the temperature of the return water from said heating system when the return water is above or below a certain temperature, said sec- 0nd thermostatacting to cause said means to said switch being provided with a pair of contact an arc-shaped member and a brush for connecting the contact members, said brushhaving one arm in contact with the circular contact member ,members, one of which is a circle.and the other and a second arm positioned to' be moved intoand out of contact with said arc-shaped contact member, a clock for moving said second arm into engagement with said arc-shaped contact member, maintaining said second arm in engagement,

2. A heat control for a steam heating system.

for a building including an automatically closing valve for turning off steam to said system, a

function sooner or later to close said reversing switch as the temperature of the return water sooner or later as the temperature of the return water rises or falls and a third thermostat exposed to the atmosphere exteriorly of the building positioned to cause said means to function and close said reversing switch sooner or later'as the temperature near said third thermostat rises and solenoidfor opening said valve and maintaining the same open for a predetermined period of time, a switch for turning on current to said solenoid, said switch being formed with spaced contacts and a brush for connecting said contacts, a clock for moving said brush into engagement with said spaced contacts, maintaining the brush in engagement with the spaced contacts a predetermined time and then moving the brush out of engagement with the spaced contacts, a primary thermostat positioned exteriorly of said building, an auxiliary thermostat utilizing the temperature of the return water from the heating system, and means capable of being actuated by the conjoint operation of said thermostats to control the movement of said spaced contacts with respect to the brush for varying th time period that said brush engages said spaced contacts.

3. A heat control for a steam heating system for a building including an automatically closing falls.

6. A heat control for a steam heating system for a building including an automatically closing trically connecting said spaced contacts, said spaced contacts comprising a continuous ring and a switch element having a pair of spaced electrically connected arc-shaped members, said ring and said arc-shaped members being positioned concentrically, said brush having a pair of resilient prongs, one of said prongs being adapted to continually engage said ring and the other of said prongs being adapted to successively engage said arc-shaped members, an insulating base rigidly secured to said ring and provided with a pair of slots through which said arc-shaped members protrude so as to be engaged by one of the prongs of said brush structure, a clock connected with said brush structure for moving the contact ends thereof in a circle in a given period of time, and thermostatically controlled means for partly rotating said base to expose more or less of said arc-shaped members.

7. A heat control for a steam heating system for a building including an automatically closing valve for turning off steam to said system, an electrically actuated member for opening Said valve and maintaining the same open a predetermined period of time, a switch for turning on electric current to said electrically actuated member, said switch being provided with spaced contacts, one of said contacts being circular and the other being arc-shaped, a brush structure coacting with said contacts, said brush structure, being enema? provided with an arm constantly engaging said circular contact and a second arm for engaging said arc-shaped contact, clock. mechanism for moving said brush structure at an even pace, said clock-mechanism moving said brush structure so thatsaid second arm will be in engagement with one or the other of said arc-shaped contacts :2. predetermined period of time and then. out of engagement therewith, a primary thermostat exteriorly of said building on one side, a second 10 

